Internal scientific evaluation of the Talentscouting Aachen

Name

Phone

Email

Nationwide, the majority of students joining university have an academic family background (77%), whereas only 23% are from non-academic families. Instead of talents and skills, the path of education seems to be predetermined by familial background.

The Talentscouting programme, developed by the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences Gelsenkirchen and funded by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, tackles this problem. The grant programme aims at educational equality as well as equal opportunities. Currently, Talentscouting is offered at 17 universities of applied sciences and universities in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Talentscouting Aachen

The two universities of Aachen also qualified for the programme. Since the beginning of 2017, they are offering Talentscouting, which is a collaborative project of the RWTH Aachen University and the FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences. The main objective is to encourage pupils/students from families without an academic background in the region of Aachen (Aachen, Düren, Heinsberg and Euskirchen) regarding their aspired educational paths. The currently five Talentscouts cooperate with business colleges, comprehensive schools, grammar schools as well as one advanced training college to identify talented pupils and to support them individually during their school-to-job/school-to-university transition.

Internal scientific evaluation

The Talentscouting Aachen project is evaluated by the professorship for Gender and Diversity in engineering (GDI).Central research questions are for example: How does Talentscouting work at the Aachen location with its very diverse regions? And what influence does Talentscouting have on the development of talents with different life circumstances? By means of a combined qualitative-quantitative research approach consisting of a regional context analysis, a project progress analysis, qualitative interviews as well as the eTalent database, which anonymously documents talent developments and their living conditions, the GDI carries out a comprehensive investigation of the Talentscouting location Aachen.

Sustainable Development Goals

The aim of this project is to reduce inequalities while promoting equal opportunities. Every child must be able to make it to the top, regardless of family background, gender, religion or the like. An inclusive, fair and high quality education is in this matter fundamental.